


Code Red

by Sarcasam



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - No Quirks (My Hero Academia), Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Arson, Based on a Tumblr Post, Bullying, Crossover, Emotional Manipulation, Eventual Romance, Everyone Needs A Hug, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Getting Together, Humor, I'm Bad At Tagging, Insecurity, Inspired by Be More Chill, Multi, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, References to Depression, Slow Burn, Social Anxiety, Squips (Be More Chill), Suicide Attempt, Villain Crimson Riot, [ A lot of these tags are pretty useless- ], [ Because I am shit at tagging. ], [ LOTS of insecurity. ], [ Not just social. ], [ One more thing! ], [ R i g h t . ], [ Sorta? ], [ That's not even a tag. ], [ This is not fun...and on that note. ], [ Those two tags are basically the same thing- ], [ Yep. ]
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-19 13:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22344712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarcasam/pseuds/Sarcasam
Summary: Kaminari Denki is aloser. Point, blank, period. Actually, he might as well have the lettersL-O-S-E-Rtattooed across his (broad, as he's been remindedmanya time) forehead.And really, he should be content with his status. He's been thrown into the bottom of the social pariah since day one— he, ofallpeople, should be used to his spot in life.But some are not content to sit still and watch their lives get slowly torn down by those higher up than them, as they look down on them andtaunt.Kaminari Denki is one of those people.A multichapter Be More Chill!AU MHA fanfiction, based offartby Literallyglitchn.
Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Ashido Mina/Utsushimi Camie, Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou, Jirou Kyouka/Yaoyorozu Momo, Kaminari Denki/Sero Hanta, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, [ Probably? ]
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	1. L-O-S-E-R

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaminari Denki and Sero Hanta are losers.
> 
> Only one really acknowledges that.
> 
>  **OR:** The Introduction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I am going to write a multi-chapter fanfiction based on some art I liked.
> 
> Yes, I will probably regret it later.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
>  **Possible Warnings** : _Bullying, Implied Homophobia, Implied Panic Attacks_

Of all days to wake up, _this_ was the worst.

Scratch that, actually. Waking up at _all_ is a laborious task, especially when your Kaminari Denki. Mainly, because he's always freezing in the morning as a result of his _severe_ lack of body fat, and no matter how many layers of thick blankets he draped himself in the night before (in this case, _four_ ) he still nearly fucking freezes to death in the wee hours of the night— and in the morning.

If the faded black circles in his eyes had anything to say, it was that he slept for maybe three hours a night, if he was lucky. But really, nobody noticed, because Shinsou had eye bags that 'carried the weight of the world', Sero joked. Sometimes Kaminari theorized if you put the guy in a coma for ten years, the bags would still be there by the time he woke up.

He'd made the mistake of joking about that 'theory' to its subject once. That earned him a punch to the face, and playful as it was, it still hurt like a fucking bitch, mainly because Shinsou was bulky and Kaminari had the build of a malnourished stick. It took a good five minutes of Sero brand comfort to keep him from crying in the middle of the school hallways.

When he ended his 'daily inner monologuing', as Sero called it, Kaminari noticed he'd gotten himself dressed. He supposed there was one good thing about letting your mind wander, and that was that somehow, you'd get a task done by the time you slapped your brain back into gear. Rolling his shoulders back to relieve the tenseness he felt every morning, he slid, using his socks as leverage, only to catch sight of something he shamefully admits he's seen _way_ too many times.

"Oh my God, dad! Is it _that_ hard to put on pants, dear _Lord_ —"

His dad interrupted him, "just pretend we're 'Pro Heroes' from that show you watch— _Hero My Academia_ , is it? Come to think of it, doesn't one of the kids in that show look a lot like you—"

Disregarding his father's _blatantly_ incorrect pronunciation and his comparison of his son to one of the characters of the show, Kaminari pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled. "When I get home, just—" he paused, for effect. " _Please_ have clothes on. I can't play _The Last of Us_ when I'm envisioning my father in his tidy-whities." Grabbing his toothbrush, Kaminari ran the bristles carefully through his teeth— _presentation is everything_ , his mother would say— and he finished his last task the day, running his fingers through his matted electric blonde hair as a replacement to brushing it, before dashing downstairs to gather his shoes and slide them on.

Five minutes later, Kaminari was _still_ staring at the door like it was a mystery to be solved, and to him, it was, at that moment.

"I'll just- _ugh_ , no!" The blonde paced, clenching and unclenching his fist. He checked the time on his watch, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.

"Fifteen minutes until..." Kaminari, against all his brain's yelling, threw open the door and made his final decision.

"Fuck it." He said. "I'll take the bus."

* * *

Ten minutes later, Kaminari was picking gum off the bottom of his Converse with a grimace. Finally deeming his shoe's soles acceptable to walk in, he began to traverse the halls, his eyes darting haplessly to avoid any potential obstacles in his objective to find Sero...or literally _anyone_ else besides the red-haired boy he crashed full force into. And sure, the boy was only two inches taller than him, but still, an intimidating sight to behold; even worse, though, was the person who was an inch _taller_ than said redhead, who had a scowl lining their face. Kaminari could make out a nervous expression on the boy standing still beside the blonde, while his opposite trembled a little— with rage, probably. _Bakugou Katsuki_ and _Kirishima Eijirou_. Two names he'd come to learn well, mainly due to the bullying he suffered as a result of the former.

"Can you watch where you're going, dude!?" Kaminari could make out the anger in the ash blonde's tone when he spoke and he gripped his fingers around his forearm tightly, as if to restrain himself from decking Kaminari across the face.

"I'm sorry, I—" Kaminari tried to apologize, but Kirishima, the nicer member of the duo of typical jocks, interrupted him.

"Don't worry about it! Bakugou's just easy too— DUDE! That is _so_ not manly." The redhead said, glaring at Bakugou fiercely. He sighed, whispering to Kaminari. "You should go wash off your backpack, bro—"

Bakugou cut off the other boy. "It's just some harmless fun, Shitty Hair. Besides, as long as he and Soy Sauce don't go near each other—" Kirishima winced. "He'll be fine."

_Shitty Hair? Soy Sauce?_

Kirishima, or 'Shitty Hair', as Bakugou so eloquently nicknamed him, sighed. "You're a real jerk, Bakugou, you know that?" Kaminari looked up in admiration at the redhead when he spoke. He must have some balls of steel to be able to talk to someone who looks so intimidating in a defamatory manner like that, but from what Kaminari had seen, the two were best friends, in a way. He listened as Kirishima continued. "Just go clean your bag...it's earnest advice." Kirishima then began dragging his companion by the arm, ignoring the blonde's swatting.

Kaminari, caught up in contemplating the conversation, didn't notice someone else behind him until somebody tapped his shoulder. "Uhm, dude? I'm pretty sure someone wrote 'BOYF' on your backpack."

Kaminari swiveled around. "BOYF? What does that even mean—" Kaminari's face exploded into a blush when he realized who he was facing.

 _In all her headphoned glory, Jirou Kyouka_.

Kaminari spluttered out his next sentence. "Oh, uh, Jirou! Hi!"

_Too peppy, dumbass._

"Uh...hi, Kaminari." Suddenly, Jirou heard a soft voice calling out for her. "Oh, Yaomomo! Uh, sorry, Kaminari. Talk to you later?" The girl ran over to the other in her peripheral vision. Kaminari's gaze lingered, just for a few more seconds, but he still slumped. So, he _had_ put her off then, huh? Put her off so badly to the point she _ran away_ from him.

And, then—

"Kaminari!" 

Once again, Kaminari swiveled. "Oh! Holy shit, Sero, I've been waiting for you to get here since—" Kaminari froze when he caught a splotch of _Sharpie_ on Sero's bag. "Dude, could you like...turn around, by any chance?"

Taking his headphones out, Sero squinted but obliged. "Sure, bro, but why would I need to turn around exactly?"

"Oh my _God_." Kaminari took Sero's backpack from his shoulders, earning another confused glance from his best friend.

"What?" He said.

"Your backpack. Somebody wrote...'FRIENDS' on it...?" And then, it clicked in Kaminari's head, and he took off his own backpack, only to see that his bag had indeed been emblazoned with 'BOYF' on it, creating...

"Oh, _fuck_."

Sparing his own glance at Kaminari's backpack, Sero giggled. _Always the chill one, even if it comes to being completely embarrassed_ , Kaminari thought. "Well, wouldn't Mr. Aizawa and Hizashi be proud." Kaminari rose a brow at Sero's comment but kept his confusion to himself. With a sigh, he instead spoke up about his interaction with Kirishima and Bakugou earlier.

"Kirishima told me to wash off my backpack after I bumped into Bakugou." Kaminari paused. "Come to think of it, Bakugou said something like "as long as he and 'Soy Sauce' don't go near each other"—" Kaminari saw Sero clearly wince at the derogatory nickname, "we'd be fine."

"Well," Sero said, schooling his face back into its normal expression, "we already know Bakugou's an asshole, so, I'm not surprised." Then, Sero inhaled, continuing. "As long as one of just ditches our bag, we can say that 'BOYF' or 'FRIENDS' means something. FRIENDS might be a _bit_ harder though— we don't have many." Sero effortlessly joked. Kaminari snorted in response. 

As they walked silently, Sero perked up with one of the many random spurts of information he had when he was high, but somehow never had when he was sober. Which, judging by the slight tinge of red in his eye, he definitely wasn't the latter. Kaminari listened in when Sero spoke.

"I was watching Discovery last night, and did you know humans stopped evolving?"

"And that's...good?" Kaminari said, his gaze flitting over to his friend.

"Which means it's _never_ been a greater time to be an absolute loser, bro!" Sero shook Kaminari by his shoulders. "We're gonna absolutely _rule_!"

Kaminari snorted again. "And you think that why?"

Sero sighed, extra dramatically just to irk Kaminari. "You ask too many questions, dude." Sero turned to Kaminari, looking oddly serious. "This _means_ there's never been a better time too—"

"Sign up for The Battle of the Bands!?" Kaminari perked up.

"I was gonna say ' _getting_ _high_ _in my_ _basement_ ', but..." 

"No, look! _Jirou_ 's signing up for The Battle of the Bands, dude!"

"Buddy, just because your crush is joining a musical based tournament doesn't mean you suddenly won't suck at guitar," Sero said, grinning lazily as he ruffled Kaminari's hair. Kaminari huffed indignantly, though not concerning the guitar part— he _knew_ he sucked.

"Who cares!? If Jirou signs, I'll join her. Maybe she'll even let me on her team!" Kaminari ran up to the signup board as Sero stared on, his brow raised high as Kaminari scrawled his name effortlessly, ignoring the shout of Camie's insult in the distance, which Sero heard clearly. Though maybe his brain was so used to being insulted by now, he just picked up on them _extra_ easily, if the ringing beginning in his ears was any indication.

And really, all Sero could do to qualm the growing jealousy (and just jealousy, not the upcoming panic attack he was _refusing_ to acknowledge despite its growing persistence to claw up his throat) in his gut at Kaminari's endless adoration for Jirou was to look down, put his headphones back on, and tap his foot aimlessly to the melody of a Bob Marley song.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave Comments and Kudos, it's greatly appreciated!


	2. Squipped Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirishima has a suggestion.
> 
> One that might just save Jeremy from being a loser for the rest of his life.
> 
>  **OR:** The Beginning of the End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will update this sooner when we get more into it, I _swear_.
> 
> I hope this chapter made up for the wait!
> 
>  **Possible Warnings** : _Light Manipulation_

Kaminari looked at the room, with a metal plate to the left of its slightly ajar door labeled ' _MUSIC'_. His gaze flitted back and forth, and he pressed his thumbs together, before swiveling around and catching Sero with a bothered look. "This was a mistake, dude. This is gonna be a _disaster_."

Sero snickered. "You don't have to do this, you know." The ravenette grinned and wrapped his arm around Kaminari, laugh catching in his voice. "I'll just make fun of you for the rest of your _life_ if you don't."

Kaminari scoffed, mock offense in his voice. "And I thought we were best friends, man!" The blonde fully swung open the door, which nearly hit Sero in his face (he knew he'd pay for _that_ later) and the two of them walked in. Sero got one good look at the drums, and his eyes lit up.

"I should've signed up, Kami!" Sero said, rushing over to the drumset which now held his full attention. "I just..." Sero paused, not continuing, since he knew that Denki already had a pretty good grasp on Sero's issue.

Sero was great at drums— but he had social anxiety. It wasn't bad, per se, but put him in front of a whole crowd of people— more _strangers_ , than anything— and Sero would at least _slightly_ freak out.

This is why Kaminari didn't blame Sero when the boy strayed to a far corner of the room, bouncing his headphones around his hands, looking down at the floor, with no particular interest.

Kaminari counted the number of people in the room— twelve, exactly— and felt a small pang of guilt spark in his chest for letting Sero come in with him. But, Sero was his own person, and Kaminari wasn't controlling. He'd let his friend do what he wanted, when he wanted.

And then, Sero apparently _wanted_ to trigger a panic attack.

But maybe Kaminari was overreacting. He stopped looking around, and his gaze settled on Jirou. His heart picked up, and he began to walk up to her, just _trying_ to be smooth. "H-hey, Jirou!"

"Kaminari!?" Jirou seemed surprised that Kaminari was in the Music room. "I definitely wasn't expecting to see you here. You learn something new every day, huh?" Jirou said, before looking at Kaminari's forehead, which was sheened with sweat. "Are you nervous?"

"N-no!" Kaminari argued, "w-w hy would I be nervous!?" Kaminari continued, wiping his hand across his forehead as he spoke, and he winced when it came down wet.

Jirou snorted. "Because nobody who _wasn't_ nervous wouldn't be sweating, buddy," Jirou smirked at Kaminari. "We know you're a musical virgin, dude. But hey— I've got some pretty useful experience."

Kaminari blushed even harder at the implications at that sentence, and he heard a muffled snort from Sero a few feet away. _Figures_.

"What got you into music, anyway?" Kaminari eased into the conversation a little, and Jirou got a spark in her eyes.

"I guess it just speaks to me, y'know?" She said, looking dreamily up at the ceiling. "I just...love it. I don't really _have_ anything that particularly dragged me into the scene." She paused. "Tell me," she looked at Kaminari seriously, "what got you so into video games?"

"They're fun," Kaminari said, effortlessly.

"There's your answer, then." Jirou smiled, and Kaminari grinned back. He was glad for once, it was forgotten he was a loser— he could just have a nice, easy conversation—

"WE'RE HERE!" The booming and excited voice of one Ashido Mina rang out through the auditorium, and all peace was destroyed. Kaminari could _literally_ hear the crack.

Kaminari looked at Sero, whose face now held a panicky expression. Then, his gaze turned to Mr. Hizashi, the drama teacher, who looked disheartened. Kaminari ran over to Sero, and the blonde noticed his friend's breathing was labored.

"Dude?" Sero looked up, Kaminari's voice snapping him out of his stupor. "You can leave if you want- _hell_ , I'll leave _with_ you, just say the word and— "

Sero's breath hitched when he interrupted Kaminari. "No, no, I'll go, uhm..." Sero tried to put on a lazy grin, but it was clearly forced onto his pallid face. "Have fun! I'll s-see—" when he stuttered, Sero inhaled deeply, then continued, "you at my house, or something. I'll just..." Sero put his headphones back on and walked out of the room. 

Kaminari began to follow after him, but halfway through, figured that Sero would rather be on his own. His gaze looked around for an excuse for being in the hallway, and when he spotted the bathroom, he took his backpack off and looked at the 'BOYF' label on it. He inhaled, and his legs picked up to run into the bathroom in his way.  


* * *

Kaminari uselessly rubbed at his backpack, the watered-down napkin in his hand doing nothing but making the _Sharpie_ smear all over his backpack. Kaminari groaned, his head banging onto the marble counter.

"I thought Bakugou told you not to wipe that off...?" Kirishima said quietly, brow raised. Kaminari startled. "Not that I'll tell him you're _trying_ , but..." Kirishima paused, and Kaminari heard him unzip. He rolled his eyes, before averting them entirely.

"Dude, why don't you just use the _stalls_?" Kaminari said—  and speaking of stalls, he was slowly trying to retreat into one.

"Stalls are for girls, dude," Kirishima said, zipping back up. Kirishima sighed. "Not that..." He tried to find his words. "Stalls just aren't manly," Kirishima finished.

"How do you talk while...?" He gestured to the urinal, even though Kirishima was done.

"Confidence."

A sudden burst of boldness surged through Kaminari. "How do you _become_ confident?" Kaminari paused, sighing, "I just...you and Bakugou are so effortlessly _cool_ , and I try _so_ hard, but...I'm still..." he gestured to his shabby clothes. "Me."

Kirishima grinned. "You wanna be cool, huh?" His voice seemed to turn robotic.

Kaminari nodded desperately, his shame settling in the pit of his stomach. He was so frantic for a chance to be cool, which as a result, just made him _uncool_. But, really did it matter? All Kaminari wanted to do was more than _survive_.

"Remember my freshman year?" Kirishima asked.

"You didn't go hear freshman year—"

Kirishima banged his hand against a locker, making Kaminari jolt and swear under his breath. "I _did_! You just didn't notice! _Nobody_ did!" Kirishima choked up. "Sorry, I— old habits. But," Kirishima paused, "you _really_ wanna know what got people to notice me?"

If Sero was here, He'd walk away at this point. Say something like ' _I'm good, but thanks for trying to make me cool_ '.

Kaminari isn’t really like Sero, though. Sero’s completely okay with being completely _lame_ — Sero's words, not his— but Kaminari isn’t. He wants to know what it’s like to be cool. To be like Bakugou or Kirishima. Which is why now, he’s talking to the latter of the pair, his eyes pleading, _screaming_ for a way out of his rabbit hole of loserdom.

"What?" Kaminari asked, voice hitching.

"It's called a SQUIP. It's a grey, oblong pill. It's quantum nanotechnology— A CPU." Kirishima paused. '"It implants itself into your bloodstream until it gets up to your brain, then it tells you what to do. It's appraising for you."

"So...it's drugs?" Kaminari said, looking at Kirishima, brow raised.

"Oh, Kaminari," Kirishima threw his arm around Kaminari, and the blonde tensed. "It's _better_ than drugs. This is some top-secret, can't even find it on the _Internet_ shit." Kirishima cussing— that was a new one.

The redhead let go of Kaminari, looking at him with a cold gleam in his eyes. "It's from Japan."

Kaminari could walk away right now. Kaminari could just stay a loser, and stick with Sero for the rest of his life, peacefully.

But Kaminari didn't wanna be uncool anymore.

_"Where can I get it?"_

"I have a hook-up in a Payless, at the mall. Bring the money tomorrow, you'll see." Kirishima turned to walk away, but Kaminari spoke up and stopped him.

"Aren't you gonna wash your hands?"

Kirishima chuckled. "You know what you need, Kamanari? A _SQUIP._ " And then, Kirishima walked away.

* * *

A few hours later, Kaminari is at his house, writing the address for a _Payless_ on his mirror in dry erase marker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave Comments and Kudos! As I said before, they're really appreciated!


	3. Two to One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "He's scamming you. He's scamming you super weirdly."
> 
>  **Or:** Life Is Fucked, but It's a Two-Player Game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was hella fun to write, for some reason.
> 
>  **Possible Warnings** : _Drug Dealing(?)_

"So, what do you think?" Kaminari's tongue lightly made contact with his upper lip as he squinted at the game he and Sero were currently playing, his repeated use of his _Blaze_ attack not doing anything.

Sure, in real life, Kaminari and Sero were best buddies, but in _My Hero Academia: One's Justice_ , Eraserhead and Dabi were worst enemies.

"He's scamming you," Sero said, quickly throwing out Eraserhead's scarf and trapping Kaminari in a combo attack. He paused to yell in triumph when he took down Kaminari's fighter, then kept speaking, "he's scamming you super weirdly." 

Kaminari sighed, throwing Sero's _Nintendo Switch_ controller onto his lap. "But what if he's not, Sero? This could be an amazing development for me! The guy whos best friend torments me is...yeah, he's scamming me. Bakugou probably set him up." Kaminari sighed, slumping into his beanbag chair. I'm gonna be a loser for the rest of my life. Actually, _no_ , probably _then_ , too."

Sero looked at Kaminari, brows furrowed. "Kaminari, you are _awesome_. Just...nobody else but me sees that yet!" He threw his arm around Kaminari. "And, yeah, sure we're losers _now_ , but imagine college! Guys like us are cool there." He thought for a minute. "Not just cool...we _rule_ there!"

"Yeah?" Kaminari said, smiling lightly.

"Yeah!" Sero shouted, and Kaminari jumped slightly. "Sure, old things aren't 'cool' in our current scheme, but people _live_ for vintage in _Waseda_. And, I mean, think about it...we like games that haven't been released since the _90_ s, retro rollerskates, and I _literally_ have a tattoo of the _Buster Sword_." Sero said, holding up his left wrist.

"I mean, I guess, but as losers, we've been together for years. But now, I guess we're just..." Kaminari set down his controller, and he began to gesture with his hands, "stuck on a level? And _I_ wanna progress. It's like I'm stuck on _Chapter Three_ of _Life is Strange_ , but really, who _doesn't_ wanna see _Chapter Four_?" Kaminari said, slumping a bit lower.

"Yeah, but in college—" Sero said.

"I get it!" Sero winced at Kaminari's harsh tone, and the blonde softened it. "It's just...we're not in college."

"All the same, right?" Sero said, taking a swig of his _Surge_ , which had been shipped from America out of Sero's desperate attempts to get his hands on 90s soft drinks.

"Kaminari?" The voice at Kaminari's bedroom door was accompanied by a light knocking. Kaminari and Sero, though, were too distracted by picking their next set of characters. So, when Kaminari's dad opened the door, it surprised both of them.

" _Dad_! Your _pants_!" Kaminari yelled.

"Son? are you here with a girl—" Kaminari's dad spoke in unison with Kaminari, but paused. "Oh, hi Sero." He started to look between Kaminari and Sero. "I was going to order takeout, so I came down to see if you guys want anything—"

Kaminari brushed off the takeout offer. "I— did you get dressed at _all_ today?" The blonde's eyes were squinted at his father.

"They didn't need me at work today, so I worked from home." Kaminari's dad said, shoulders slumping.

"Most people wear _pants_ at home." Kaminari seethed.

"Well, most people are...not your father!" He paused. "Good talk." Kaminari's father said, before closing the door. 

"Is he okay...?" Sero asked, looking concerned.

"What do you think?" Kaminari sounded angry, staring down at his controller like it had committed a heinous sin unable to be forgiven.

"You heard from your mom..." Sero said, only to be interrupted.

"So!? It's, like...mom moved on, after the divorce. Why can't _he_?" Kaminari said, slamming his controller down. Sero visibly flinched.

"Dude—"

"Kirishima said he got his SQUIP at a Payless, right? So let's meet his hook-up there—"

Kaminari was interrupted by Sero, whose voice sounded slightly shaken. "But, if you get it...will you be too cool for video games?"

"Sero," Kaminari looked at his friend softly. "You're my favorite person. It's just...I have dreams, you know? Just like how _you_ dream to be the next _Bob Marley."_ Kaminari said, and Sero chuckled.

"Really? Your _favorite_ person?" Sero purred.

"Don't ruin it," Kaminari said, though the joking in his tone was evident.

"I guess you're right," Sero said, getting back onto the topic at hand.

"High school _is_ shit," Kaminari paused, "but _you're_ gonna help me conquer it."

Sero grinned, picking Eraserhead again while Kaminari picked All Might. "Yeah, you're _absolutely_ right, and you know why?" The match began. "Because _we_ make it a two-player game."

* * *

An hour later, they're in the middle of the mall. Kaminari keeps an eye on Sero as they walk, checking for any surefire signs of an onset panic attack. Upon seeing Sero is having none, he—

Actually, he seemed to be enjoying this excursion, his eye catching on the _Spencer's_ they'd just walked past on their way to _Payless_.

And frankly? Kaminari was glad Sero was enjoying this more than he was, the musk of sweaty teens and chatter of gossiping girls beginning to get to him.

"Here we are!" Sero said, gesturing dramatically towards the _Payless_. "The guys probably in the back." Sero paused. "Not that I'd know how _shady backhand deals_ work..."

"Sure," Kaminari said, squinting, before following Sero into the back of the store. Upon reaching their destination, they saw a man in the back covered in tattoos. By a chance glance, Kaminari saw his nametag was labeled _Touya_.

"I like your tats! Is that a Dabi reference?" Kaminari asked, grinning broadly.

Touya just stared blankly, before finally speaking up. "You have the money?"

"...What?" Kaminari asked, raising a brow.

When Touya began to relay a monologue that was an exact copy of what Kirishima said, Kaminari interrupted him. "Wait, what? How did you know that's why I came here?"

Touya looked Kaminari up and down, and then rolled his eyes. "Just look at yourself." 

Choosing to ignore the insult, Kaminari dug all the money he had from his pocket. 

"That four hundred?" Touya asked, and Kaminari's eyes widened. 

"Four!?"

Touya growled. "Is that a problem...?"

"No, actually!" Kaminari smiled. "There's a guy at my school charging—"

Sero interrupted Kaminari. "Four," he said urgently, and Kaminari continued.

"Oh...four-hundred!" Kaminari gave Touya the four hundred dollars, leaving Sero sighing in relief that he hadn't had to contribute his two hundred. The dude wasn't exactly loaded.

With the transaction complete, Touya handed Kaminari the pill. "Just so you know, this isn't quite... _legal_. I take zero responsibility for what you do with _it_...or what it does with _you_."

"Wait, _m_ —"

Touya interrupted Kaminari. "Take it with Mountain Dew. Don't ask, because I don't know. And, this part is important—"

Suddenly, footsteps sounded from behind the group of three. When Touya turned around, he yelled at the newcomer. "We're sold out!"

"Of shoes...?" A feminine voice rang out, which turned out to be Momo Yaoyorozu.

"Oh..." Touya looked down, mildly embarrassed, as he gestured towards Kaminari and Micheal to leave.

"But you just said there was something important," Kaminari said, raising a brow.

"Oh, yeah. All sales final." Touya waved the two boys off and started to address Momo. "Anyway, we just got in in a _killer_ pair of pumps."

Sero and Kaminari looked at each other, but confused as they were, they listened and left.

* * *

Kaminari turned the pill around in his hand, addressing it. "I hope you're worth four hundred dollars."

Sero perked up, twisting his neglected yakisoba on his fork. "Four hundred and one. Don't forget the Mountain Dew."

"Y'know," Kaminari made eye contact with Sero, "if this is real, this could change my _life_. We should split it! I mean, you helped me out, right? We should both benefit."

"Nah," Sero leaned back. "I don't think it'll work. Besides, I like knowing when you're cool, you'll owe me." He slurped his noodles.

"Here goes nothin'..." Kaminari said, popping the pill into his mouth, then taking a swig of _Mountain Dew_.

Sero looked excited. "How does it taste?"

"Minty," Kaminari responded.

"How do you feel...?" Sero asked,

"Like..." Kaminari thought for a moment, "a chump."

" _Nothing_ at all?" Sero sighed. "Just...try to say something cool!"

"I think I just spent my birthday money on a winter-green _Tic_ _Tac_. And those aren't even the _good_ kind," Kaminari said, his eyes containing a lifeless look and his tone completely deadpan.

"Yeah...not cool," Sero said, his brow furrowed.

"Just leave me to drown in my yakitori." Kaminari laid his head on the table, only to hear _Bakugou's_ voice, accompanied by _Jirou_ , of all people.

He _was_ gonna be a loser for the rest of his life.

No, actually.

" _Then_ , too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I am aware that this story seems like it is simultaneously set in Japan _and_ America. It's supposed to be set In Japan, however; I'm just bad at writing different cultures so a lot of this very 'American-heavy'.
> 
> Comments and Kudos appreciated!


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